A rather belated response to Iolaus.

The whole question is vague, for in essence tribes romped about-migrating, taking over the land of others and so on: there are even doubts as to some tribes being Celtic or Teutonic. The Romans made an arbitary split -Celts one side of the Rhine-Germans/Teutons the other. 'Celts-nice and civilised--Teutons nasty and uncivilised': think here of the legions destroyed in the Teutoberger Wald.

Too as has been said there was a massive cross fertilisation of ideas/arts etc, which I entirely accept.

Here in Britain there was to recently a tendency to portray the Celts as really rather nice 'sweet fluffy bunnies': and the Germanic races as being the bad guys. A lot going back to Victorian romantic ideas, with the Scots being ascribed as Celtic on oft romantic grounds.

Now modern research is firstly showing that the picture is not as clear as it was say seventy years ago, and that some peoples who were thought to be Celtic might not be: as with the question about artwork I mentioned in another post. So it is all rather exciting, and I hope I live long enough to find out more.

At this point I get personal-maybe neurotic: for I object to being swept up by a possibly imagined Celtic myth. So rather than seeing myself as a Celt, I look to my own clan-of which I proudly claim membership by blood in the male line, and leave it at that.

Just as whilst I've yet to see evidence that the Kilt is anything but a highland garment, and certainly nothing to show that it had Celtic origins: it is interesting to see how today it is being adopted as a Celtic garment in say Wales, and I believe other lands as well. Just as it has of recent been adopted in the lowlands-where a couple of hundred years ago they would have scorned to wear the barbaric garb of the highlander-think here of Walter Scott and the romantics. An example of the cross fertilisation of ideas and artifacts. Possibly if the membership of this board is anything to go by, at some future date the kilt itself will be seen as an American garment: and that really will confuse the historians of a thousand years hence.

However honesty obliges me to admit that who knows who crept into this or that bed over the centuries-so who knows, or can ever know the entire truth as to their own lineage.

James